When to open up?

[PokerCat69]

I play 6/.50 Turbo's on stars. Generally I wait for AA-QQ AK, and will play pocket pairs if I can see the flop for 5% or less of my stack.

There comes a time to open up alot and I'm wondering if that criteria should be based on the # of players remaining or at a certain blind level. When should I start including: JJ-TT, AQ-AJ etc?

[Iamafish]

It has to do with mostly the blind levels.

Im not sure about the levels at stars, but if you're under 10BB you better start making some moves.

If there is ever 4-5 people left and you're in an early level, you can open up (prolly never happen though).

[Isaac Newton]

You should be playing those hands from the beginning. 95% of the table will be in with less, probably much less.

[Phill S]

There is never a unique time to open the throttle. It relates to the number of players, size of blinds and the size of your stack. The interaction between these should define when you shift into the high gear.

Phill

[DasLeben]

As a very general rule of thumb, you can really start to open up when you have less than 10BB in your stack. For example, if the blinds are 50/100, you can generally start stealing when you have something like t1000 in your stack.

When this happens, you're going to need to include a LOT more than just JJ-TT, AQ-AJ (in a Stars game, you should be playing these even in early play). You need to be able to push 94o when it's correct to do so.

The real science behind when to open up doesn't have a whole lot to do with your cards. It has to do with position, stacks, blinds, and people.